Friday, 29 May 2015

I will be otherwise engaged for the next week so thought I might do an early May round up - it might be a lengthy one.

May has been most unseasonal here in my part of Scotland - usually it's a really pleasant month, warm & sunny with the promise of a summer to come. But we have had rain, wind, chilly temperatures and the need for heating even as June looms......boo!

The first Bank Holiday Monday saw me and pal Janet attending a workshop organised by our local Quilters' Guild. It was a Colouricious Day of block printing - you know I went along not really 100% focused on the day but left at the end, absolutely buzzing and fired up, wanting to take up block printing as a way of life - but that's me, obsessive as always!

Jamie Malden took our workshop and her enthusiasm was totally catching - I couldn't believe that after just a short intro, we got stuck right in, to printing our provided aprons. We learned different processes and went on to print three "free" pieces and then scarves, to round off a fab day.

I have posted in the past about the wonderful Great Scottish Tapestry - I saw it in Edinburgh for the first time, after queuing for an hour. I saw it in Paisley amidst crowds. And then it came to Ayr! How lucky were we...............oh I do hope the people of Ayr supported it more than this picture suggests.

Meanwhile, despite the weather, I decided it might be time to plan a summer EPP project and thought I'd give Katy Jones' Triangle City a go. Here are my pieces in a "dry run". I am progressing slowly.

Not so with my Bee a Brit Stingy blocks, for May/June I have Catherine's row to make. She has requested Flying Geese, in any direction, block size etc but colours greens, yellows & b & w. My favourite colours to work with - yum.

However, the last two months, I did flying geese for Lucy and foundation pieced all of it - all 12" x 48" and although I really like FP I was a bit scunnered at the

thought of more of it. So I hit EQ7 and came up with these...............

or

I gave Catherine the choice and she opted for the second one. My aim had been to design something where I could produce multiple geese from minimal cuts. Hmm, not so, as I was using lots of different fabrics and backgrounds. So I took it a step at a time and really enjoyed the process.

Laying out ............following my plan

A couple of blocks done........

half way ...............

all done........

and how the rows are playing together so far.................what do you think??

This photo is quite a feat for it's the first thing to go on my "design wall" this year - my sewing room has been otherwise deployed as a bedroom since January with family moving in pending a house move...............so the BIG MOVE has taken place, lodgers have moved out, oh, except this one,

He is definitely moving out tomorrow......................

And in the midst of all the moving, the curtain making, the curtain altering, the curtain hanging..............I saw this -

and this...........

and knew immediately that I wanted to have a go at it. For those of you who might possibly have missed the excitement, this quilt is My Small World by the wonderful Jen Kingwell. There is a Quilt a long going on over on Instagram but I just know I'll never keep up. However I will make this quilt, I love it, I love the style, the use of scraps, I could go on. What is not my style, is needle turn applique, lots of hand sewing, little teeny weeny bits.............but I am challenging myself to do it and think I might have gone over the edge when I dived in to make these half inch - yes, half inch, hexies.

Sunday, 17 May 2015

UPDATE - Poor Nessa is unable to go to the Festival this year after all so has asked me to re-draw. I suggest she buys a lottery ticket this week because her number came up on the re-draw!
If at first...........so on my next attemt, the new winner is -

Saturday, 16 May 2015

I've been entering the Blogger's Quilt Festival for two or three years now - I love that it brings together bloggers from all over who share a passion for making quilts.

For the Spring Festival I am entering my second version of my Modern Sampler - I stitched along with my classes on this one and it actually was quite a departure in colour for me. I have been keen to try out a darker background and chose a small b & w spot. My other fabrics started off from a fat 1/8 bundle of Kate Spain Cuzco and I went from there, using my stash if I could.

The quilt was constructed in four panels and then joined with wide strips, using QAYG techniques, this was the basis of the course for 2014/15 and if you are interested in seeing some of the others you can view a slideshow of my end of term show HERE

But today is all about me, ha!

The quilt measures 72" x 84" and I quilted it at home using black Aurifil #50 which, stitching black on black nearly did for my eyesight! Wadding/batting was Hobbs 80/20 in black and the backing was Ikea cheapo black & white alphabet fabric. (actually a duvet cover)

Thursday, 14 May 2015

So, in my last post I just showed details of the super online Quilt Festival coming up later this month.

Today I want to remind you all about the fabulous Festival of Quilts, "Europe's leading patchwork and quilting show".
I think it might now be in its 13th or 14th year and I still remember the excitement of flying down to Birmingham for that first show and being overwhelmed by the volume of eye candy quilts to look at.
Then there was the year we had to hang about Glasgow airport for most of the day whilst Flybe got their planes in the right place......we missed a whole day at the show - boo!
There really is something for everyone from traditional to modern through quilt art and mixed media. Not forgetting the traders - we always like to think of it as a holiday where you spend mad money!

So this year my friend Janet and I had not made any plans to go - and then we heard that the local Quilters' Guild coach trip had spaces needing filled. What could we do but rise to the occasion and so we are off on our "old lady" bus tour, accommodation, lunch stops and entry to the Festival all included, feels good not to be organising for a change.

For those of you still thinking, still planning, I have been given 3 pairs of complimentary tickets for the Show to giveaway to 3 lucky readers of this blog.

To be in with a chance of winning just leave me a comment - now I always answer blog comments so if you have in the past commented and not had a reply it means you are probably a no-reply blogger. If you are not sure I suggest you include your email address in your comment e.g. joeblogsatgmaildotcom.

I shall draw the winners on Sunday evening. (17th May)

In other news, it's been busy around here despite having no classes. But I might just leave all that for my next post.

Here it is ready with its Denise Schmidt lining ready to go in. The outer bag is a linen look cotton with a sweet design.

and the finished bag..............

I made a very large Granny, (24")

and then last week, I was reading a past copy of Love P & Q and was interested in Julie's take on Disappearing Nine Patch. You know that way, when you see something, and you just have to try it ?

I had a go, using some of my pre cut 2.5" scraps and added in a few newly cut ones too. Most of the fabrics used are pretty old and traditional but many hold memories of where and when previously used. I loved the random placement and direction of the blocks. The finished cushion fits in nicely with some of my other scrappy cushions.

I always quilt the backs of my cushions, joining them first of all to the front before actually quilting - I raked about in my stash for something suitable and found a linen look tea towel and instantly recalled buying it in Cairns, Oz, back in 2012. There's a memory in everything it seems.